Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1887-06-17

ny u lump, Boz INC tfutu uIu tno iutuii
that shall not share unroll itself before I'M
like a SCROLL When first ! knew my lord,
and she pointed to Leo, II knew also thai
death would DO tho bridal gift he gave me; I
rushed upon me OF q sudden. but turned moi
back, being ready TO pay tho price, and, DO
hold, death is herei And now, oven us
knew that, SO do l, standing on the steps Of
doom, know that thou shalt not reap the
profits Of thy crime. Mine he is, and thougt
thy beauty shine like q sun among the star,
mine shall he remain for thee. Never here
upon this earth shall ho look thee in tho eye:
and call thee wife. Thou, too, artdoomed
! sce"-and her voice rung like tho cry OF ar
inspired prophecies; "ah, see'-----
Then came an answering cry Of mingled
rage and terror. turned my head. Ayosha
had risen, aud was standing with her out
stretched hand pointing at Ustane, who had
suddenly stopped speaking. gazed at the
poor woman, and as gazed there grew upon
her face that same woful, fixed expression Of
terror that had seen once before when she
had broken out into her wild chant Her
eyes grew large, her nostrils Diluted, and her
lips blanched.
Ayesha said nothing; she made no sound,
she only drew herself up, stretched out her
arm, and, her tall yelled frame quivering
like an aspen leaf, appeared to look iixedly at
her victim. Even as she did so Ustane put
her hands to her head, uttered one piercing
scream, turned round twice. and thon fell
backward with thud prone upon tho door.
Both Leo and myself rushed TO her-she was
stone dead-blasted into death by some
mysterious electric agency or overwhelming
will forco whereof tho dread She had cou-
piand.
For moment Leo did not quite realize
what had happened. But when he did his
face was awful to see. With q savage oath
he rose from beside the corpse, and turning,
literally sprung at Ayesha. But she had
boon watching, and seeing him coming,
stretched out her hand again, and no camo
staggering back toward me, and would have
| fallen had not caught him. Afterward he
! told me that be felt as though be had sud-
denly received violent blow In the chest,
and, what is more, cowed as though all the
manhood'had been taken out of him.
Then Ayesha spoke. "Forgivo me, my
guest" she said, softly, addressing him, III
have shocked thee with my Justice"
aForgive me, thou tend." reared poor Leo,
wringing bis hands In his rage and grief
Hforgive thee, thou murdereSsl By heaven.
will kill thee IL canl"
@Nay, nay" she answered In the same soft
voice, "thou dost not uuderstand-tbe time
has come for thee to learn Thou art my
love, my Kallikrates-my Beautiful, my
Strongl For 1900 years. Kallikrates,
have l waited for thee, and now at
length thou hast come back to me; and as for
this woman" pointing to the corpse. "she
stood between mo and thee. and therefore
have removed her, Kallikrates."
at is an accursed lel" screamed Loo. @My
name Is not Kallikrntesi am Leo vincey;
my ancestor was KaIlikrates-nt least be-
lieve he was"
"Ah, thou sayest It; thine ancestor was
Kallikrates, aud thou, even thou. art Kalli-
kintcs come back-and mine own dear lordT
~ am not KalIiIsrates, and as for being thy
lord, or having anything to do with thee,
had rather DO the LORD OF tiend from hell.
for she would lie better than thou"
"Sayest thou so-saycst thou 50, KALI
kratesi Nay, but thou hast not seen me for
so many years that no memory remAinS Yet
am very fair, Knllikrutesl"
al hate thee, murdcress, and do not wish to
see thee. What Is II TO mo how fair thou artl
hate thee, say
creep 10 my knee and swear that thou dost
love me- answered Ayesha, with sweet.
moclsing laugh. "Come, there Is no time like
the present time; hero, before this dead girl
who loved thee. let us put 1t to the proof"
"I.ook now on me, Kallikratesl" and with a
sudden motion she shook her gauzy covering
from hor aud stood forth In her low kirtle
and her snaly zone, in her glorious, radiant
beauty and her imperial grace, rising from
her wrappings, as it were, like Venus from
the wave, or Galatea from her marble, or q
beautiful spirit from the tomb. She stood
forth and liked hcr deep and glowing eyes
upon his own, and saw his clnched fists un.
clasp and his set and quivering features relax
beneath her gaze. l saw his wonder and
establishment grow into admiration, and then
into fascination; and tho moro he struggled
the moro saw rho power OF her dread beauty
fasten on him md take possession Of his
senses, drugging them and drawing the heart
out of him. Did / not know the processl
Had not l. who was twice his age, gone
through 1t myself Was not going through
it afresh even then, though her sweet and
passionate gnze wns not for mel Yes. alas, I
WINS. Alas, TINT should have to confess that
at that very moment was rent by mad and
furious jealousy. l could have flown at his
throat, shame upon mel That woman had
COMPOUNDED and almost destroyed my moral
sense, rs she was bound to confound all who
looked upon her superhuman lovelinesA But
somehow, / do not know how, got tho better
OF myself, md once more turned to see the
climax OF tho tragedy.
"Oh, heavens" gasped Leo. Fart thou a
womanF
"A woman I'm truth-n very tiuth-and
thine own spouse, Kallikrates," she answered,
stretching out her roundul ivory arms to
ward him and smiling, ali, so sweotlyi
He looked and looked. and slowly por-
csived that he was drawing nearer TO her.
Suddenly his eye fell upon the corpse Of poor
Ustane, and he shuddered and stopped.
allow can II" he said, hoarSely. Thou art
murderess. She loved me-"
Observe, he was already forgetting that he
had loved her.
at is naught," she murmured, and her
voice sounded az the night wind passing
through tho trees ut Is naugbt at all II I
have sinned, let my beauty answer for my
sin. II have sinned 1t Is for love OF thee;
let my sin, therefore, be put away and for
gotten;n and once more size stretched out her
arms and whispered, HCome," aud then IN
another few seconds IL was over. ] saw him
STRUGGLED saw him even turn TO fly: but Der
eyes drew him stronger than iron bonds, and
the magic OF her beauty and concentrated viii
and passion entered into him and overpow
cred hin--ay, even therein the presence Of
tho body OF the woman who had loved him
well enough TO die for him. 1t sounds horri
bic and wicked enough, but he cannot be
blamed too much, and DO sure bis sin will
find him out The temptress who drew him
into evil WINS moro thnn human, and her
beauty was greater than the loveliness OF the
daughters OF men.
sPerchance thou dost not believe my word,
neutrality-suspicious. thon thinkest that ]
do delude thee, and that have not lived
these many years, and that thou hast not
been born again TO me. Now win ] show
thee, and thee also, my Holly, who dost stand
staring there as though of truth thou hadst
taken root in this unkindly soil. Bear each
one Of you lamp, and follow after mo whittier
shall lead yer
Without pauslng to think-indeed, speak.
Ing for myself, had almost abandoned the
function in circumstances under which 70
think seemed to DO absolutely useless, since
thought fell hourly helpless against black
wall Of wonder-we took tho lamps and fol-
lowed her. Going to the end of her "bou-